Things looking dismal for Leary

10,000 job claim blowing up in his face; mailer from Detrick has Mayor Gary Davis' endorsement


While there are no local polls showing who is leading in the heated race for Elk Grove's district three council seat, there are several indications thatincumbent Mike Leary is in trouble.

First there is the small matter of Leary's claim that he helped create 10,000 Elk grove jobs in the last eight years.

Several readers of this site have commented on this:

Mr. Leary not telling the truth??? Tell me it isn't true?? However, most of us already know Mike too well to think otherwise. Did he think none of us would question this claim? Does he think we're that stupid? 10,000...very few cities in America had a 10,000 job growth over the last 8 years....Mike, time to find another part time job! Good riddance!

Another said:

I doubt there are 10,000 minimum wage/retail jobs let alone what I would call "sustainable" jobs. Who is Leary kidding? Does he think we're fools? Poor EG..with all the foreclosures and he wants us to think our economy is robust and healthy due to his 10,000 jobs! I think Leary has had one too many drinks!

Meanwhile, over at Elk Grove online, Leary's outlandish claims have been widely discussed. (registration required).

A sampling includes the following:

"The independent figures I looked at recently cited 3,800 jobs added in Elk Grove in the recent years. 10,000 is obviously a made-up number that is being used to look good, and this is exactly the kind of shenanigans and mis-information that has made Mr. Leary infamous.

It is time to remove him from the Council an honest person with integrity that is backed by the citizens, not the developers. Steve Detrick has my vote."

"I did a little research myself. I contacted EDD, the California Employment Development Dept and asked if they had any statistics to either support or disprove Leary's comments.

They faxed me a copy of their records which are, according to them, the most accurate records available. They show that Elk Grove has added 3,700 jobs since city inception in 2000.

It seems Mr. Leary cannot be trusted. What a revelation!"

"Regarding the incumbents - When all is said and done... there's been more said than done."

Interestingly, there where no pro-Leary comments much less any effort by a Leary surrogate to support his claim.

Then in today's mail came a mailer from opponent Steve Detrick. This mailer included an endorsement from Elk Grove Mayor Gary Davis!

While we have no way of accurately knowing how this contest will turn out, given the public skepticism of Leary's job creation claim, his generally surly reputation and the fact that his own city council colleague is endorsing his opponent, Leary would have to reach deep into Felix's bag of magic tricks to retain his seat.